Photographs released by North Korean propaganda show several missiles rising above the horizon before unleashing a hail of explosives on a small island. In a matter of seconds, dozens of detonations cover a large surface. It is the latest show of force by the Kim Jong-un regime, which continues to expand its arsenal on the eve of a new Asian tour by Donald Trump. This time, Pyongyang has tested cluster bomb warheads capable of multiplying the destructive capacity of its short-range ballistic missiles.
North Korea announced this Sunday that it had tested the new capabilities of its Hwasong-11 family tactical projectiles the day before. According to the state agency KCNA, the tests showed that a cluster warhead called Standard Type 2 can destroy an area of between 12 and 13 hectares, equivalent to about 18 football fields.
The agency responsible for the missile program assured that it is developing four different categories of these munitions, adapted to different military objectives, and that it intends to make them available to its units before the end of the year.
Pyongyang presented the test as part of its normal scientific activities, but its importance goes beyond a propaganda display. Cluster bombs release numerous submunitions over a large area, allowing simultaneous attacks on concentrations of troops, vehicles, airfields or military installations. They are also especially dangerous for the civilian population, because some of their explosives can remain unexploded for years.
This has not been the first time that Pyongyang has experimented with these munitions. Last April, Kim himself, accompanied by his daughter, supervised tests of cluster bombs installed on short-range ballistic missiles. The main novelty of this weekend is the announcement of incorporating different variants to the operational units and perfecting their ability to attack large surfaces.
The test caps several weeks of intense military activity on the Korean Peninsula. On Thursday, the regime fired around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles from the vicinity of Wonsan, on its eastern coast. The projectiles traveled about 250 kilometers before falling into the Sea of Japan.
The launch coincided with the visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to South Korea. Two weeks earlier, Pyongyang had launched several missiles from the vicinity of its capital, one of which exceeded a distance of 900 kilometers. That demonstration came after Seoul successfully tested its own hypersonic missile.
The North Korean arms race is not limited to ballistic projectiles. Last week, Kim demanded to achieve "absolute superiority" in drone technology during an exhibition of these unmanned aircraft that incorporated, according to official media, AI systems. In October, Pyongyang also announced tests of AI-guided torpedoes and submarine-launched cruise missiles.
All of these tests coincide with growing tensions on the militarized border between the two Koreas. The North's military continues to erect fences and reinforce border positions. And in this scenario the figure of Donald Trump and rumors about a possible meeting with Kim appear again.
Will there be a summit with Trump?
The American president will travel to Asia this November, first to Manila, where a meeting of leaders of the Quad bloc (United States, Japan, India and Australia) is being prepared, and then to Shenzhen, where China will host the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum) summit on the 18th and 19th.
According to The Wall Street Journal in August, Trump had asked his advisors to explore the possibility of organizing a new meeting with the North Korean leader while taking advantage of his trip to China. The Republican personally fueled the rumors by stating that he hoped to meet Kim again before the end of the year. In October he admitted that the two might see each other during his tour, although a week later he admitted that he didn't even know if anyone had formally requested a meeting.
The last clarification came this Saturday from the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. "US President Donald Trump remains open to dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if Pyongyang is willing to address issues that concern Washington and its allies," he explained.
Rubio's remarks followed trilateral talks he held with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Atlanta on Friday. The three top diplomats reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea. "I think the president's perspective is that, if North Korea and Kim Jong-un are willing to talk to the United States about issues that concern us and our allies, such as South Korea, he would be open to doing so," Rubio said.
There is no news from North Korea that Kim is willing to travel to China to meet with Trump, or that the possibility of a meeting on the border between the two Koreas is open, as occurred the last time the two leaders met, in June 2019.
That day, Trump symbolically crossed the military demarcation line and became the first sitting US president to set foot on North Korean territory. The historic photograph of the handshake between the two leaders, who had already met in Singapore in 2018 and in Hanoi a few months before, went around the world. But the gesture failed to unblock negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament, which have remained stalled since then.
